Customers hope nasi kandar shops will prioritise hygiene after raid

Maintaining hygiene: Customers hope ‘nasi kandar’ outlets will clean up their act after 15 were ordered closed recently.

GEORGE TOWN: Penangites hope that nasi kandar restaurants – considered as one of the island’s staple dishes – will take measures to keep their premises clean after 15 were closed down by the state health department.

Petrol station administration staff Rodziah Abu Ali, 51, said she would avoid some outlets that operate by the roadside or at five foot ways due to its poor environment.

“Most of the time you will see rats and cockroaches around the area and that would instantly kill my appetite,” she said when met in Queen Street here yesterday.

Civil servant Siti Haishah Abdul Rahman said the kitchen should be cleaned after a cooking session.

“It’s like a standard operating procedure. I’m sure everyone was taught at home to clean the kitchen and wash the utensils after cooking,” said the 55-year-old Education Ministry officer.

Supermarket department head M. Thileges, 31, said some of the restaurants had oily and slippery floors.

“The toilets, too, are beyond satisfactory. If I come across such conditions, I will not hesitate to leave even though I’m hungry,” Thileges said.

It was reported that the Penang Health Department has ordered 15 nasi kandar outlets, including several well-known ones, to close due to poor hygienic conditions.

The restaurants were among 32 restaurants checked during the operation.

Meanwhile, Association of Tourist Attractions Penang chairman Ch’ng Huck Theng said nasi kandar outlets should not be the only target for raids.

“The government should be targeting all food outlets that are dirty as this will not only jeopardise the people’s health but will also create a bad reputation for Penang.”

Penang Health Department enforcement chief Ahmad Shukri Bakar said the department was fair in its raids on eateries and did not only focus on nasi kandar outlets.

He said the department had carried out raids on other types of premises in its various categories of operations throughout the year such as Ops Tomyam, Ops Hawkers, Ops Ramadan and Ops Jingle Bell.